The name of the chapter highlighting International Assistance Dog Week (IADW) in the newest edition of Social Media Marketing All-in-One for Dummies is telling the truth: “Social Media is Doggone Hard Work.”

IADW is an annual event each August that I help promote. I was pleased to be recognized in the book, along with IADW founder, Marcie Davis, for the work that we do to honor assistance dogs.

The Social Media Marketing “All-in-One” has nine “books,” and IADW is in Book 9, Chapter 1. IADW is used as an example of integrating various tools, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Alerts, and Google Analytics, in addition to more traditional PR and marketing efforts.

When you’re promoting an annual event with a limited budget, use of social media can make a big difference. The main investment is time, rather than money, but of course even time is valuable, so you’re paying one way or another.

One reason Facebook and other social media work so well for IADW is that it’s an international event. Social media gives us a way to reach an audience in many different countries, now more than 20, who all have a common interest in assistance dogs.